A $500,000 gift from the American Electric Power Foundation will help fund an endowment for the long-term maintenance of state-of-the-art laboratory equipment purchased last year for the science programs at Eastern Michigan University.
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SCIENCE SUPPORT: Harriet Lindsay, an EMU
associate professor of chemistry, discusses a
microwave reactor and its functions to (above,
from left) Thomas Sidlik, chair of the EMU Board
of Regents; Hartmut Hoft, dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences; Dale Heydlauff, American
Electric Power Foundation's (AEP) vice president,
corporate communications; Don Loppnow, EMU's
provost and executive vice president; and Michael
Morris, AEP's chairman, president and chief
executive officer. Morris made possible a
$500,000 gift from AEP to help fund an
endowment for the long-term maintenance of
laboratory equipment purchased for EMU's science
programs last year. |
AEP is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States and is based in Columbus, Ohio. Since 2005, its foundation has donated $350,000 to EMU's science programs. With today's gift, AEP Foundation giving totals $850,000 for this $1.75 million initiative.
The gift was made possible by former EMU Regent Michael G. Morris ('69, '73), AEP's chairman, president and chief executive officer; and EMU Foundation Trustee Dale Heydlauff ('78), vice-president, corporate communications at AEP. Both are EMU alumni. Morris was commencement speaker and received an honorary doctorate at EMU's spring commencement April 27.
"It is so important in private industry to have employees with practical knowledge and a passion for science. Learning on the most up-to-date laboratory equipment is essential to provide our students of today — AEP's future work force — with the concepts and tools of modern instrumentation," Morris said. "That, and my affinity for EMU as my alma mater, makes this gift from the AEP Foundation all the more meaningful to me. It's an investment in our future."
"We are so grateful to the AEP Foundation for this significant gift, which helps build an endowment to maintain and replace the cutting-edge laboratory equipment purchased under the Kresge Science Initiative," said Donald Loppnow, provost and executive vice president of EMU.
EMU students in mid- and upper-level undergraduate classes, such as ecology and limnology, as well as graduate-level and independent studies students, will learn on equipment purchased and maintained with the funding from the AEP Foundation. EMU labs also are used in sponsored research.
"Previous equipment funded by the AEP Foundation has greatly expanded the research capabilities of EMU. Many other universities don't have this type of equipment and it broadens the capacity for research and involves our students in learning a new skill set," said Michael Angell, an associate professor of biology.
With the gift, EMU is much closer to completing the Kresge Science Initiative Challenge of raising a $1 million equipment endowment.
